Buns in the Oven – Finding the Perfect Breadmaker Recipe

Ever since I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I’ve been intrigued by the idea of making my own bread. Or, more accurately, intrigued by the idea of the author’s husband making bread for her. So for Valentine’s Day, my husband got an Oster Breadmaker.

The two of us were relatively excited to get started in the next step of urban homesteading, buying all the yeast, dry milk, seeds, oat bran, and whole wheat flour to make the nutty, grainy bread we’re used to buying at Whole Foods twice a week for $5 a loaf. The process to get started is pretty much as simple as a slowcooker – add ingredients and press go. Three hours later the result was a pretty dense, doughy loaf – though it didn’t taste too bad.

Two batches later, I finally found perfection with a modified recipe and the result is a delicious, healthy, homemade bread! Interestingly, an article just came out in USA Today stating that bread is a big source of sodium for Americans – my 2-pound loaf only has 2 teaspoons.